European Election, My thoughts for what its worth

I stayed up late last night to watch the results coming in, probably too late as a bit tired this morning but hey, I am interested in politics. Anyway, here is my take on what happened for what its worth. Please feel free to disagree, agree, not care and comment.

SNP Pretty much stayed the same as the previous euro elections. The party pulled around 28.9% of the vote and that will rise slightly with one result still to come in. No doubt the unionist parties will say the YES bandwagon has been stopped but that will be too simple an analysis to be honest. Scots tend to vote tactically a lot of the time in these type of elections so to stand still after seven years in government in Scotland can only be seen to be not bad overall. It is not a reflection on September but will be spinned by the Taylors, Torrances and Curtices of the world when the BBC roll out the same old faces. We will hear that this was a bad night for the SNP, which of course it wasn’t, it was as is or indifferent at best.

Labour Have increased their share of the vote by around 6%. They will portray this as a success and a victory, even though the SNP will have beaten them again. I still don’t get why people bother to vote for Labour at all, especially given that the party is a basket case right now with both poor politicians and a shocking leader. Put this result into a General Election and the swing will not be enough to give them a majority in Westminster. With a year to go until the next Westminster election, against one of the worst governments in history, with attacks on the poor, the vulnerable, and the working poor this is not a good result for Labour at all. They should be flying ahead, esp. down south and they are not. Again will be spun as a good result but it is not and don’t let anyone tell you and different.

Conservatives 17.2% of the vote is a slight increase on the last European elections and probably about what you would expect for the Tories. There is anti-Europe sentiment in Scotland but the Tories have not really taken advantage of that, however I suspect that they have taken votes from the LibDems and maybe even a tiny amount from the SNP. I would see this as a standing still for the Conservatives, it could have been a lot worse and I suspect they might be relieved this morning.

Liberal Democrats Disaster is the only word for it. I will not mourn the loss of George Lyons to Scottish politics but this result really is a bad one, while not unexpected, we are watching the demise of a party. Now the Liberals will say that they are paying the price for their decision to go into coalition with the Tories but they are not. No, they are getting a doing because they lied on their big manifesto promises and don’t let anyone tell you different. The Liberals are in need of serious change, it’s just not Nick Clegg. I actually loath Danny Alexander and Vince Cable more, but they have to start standing up for what they believe in and stop the rubbish they spout. I actually believe we need a strong Liberal Party in Scotland, I consider myself a Liberal, but the ones at the top have given up on being Liberals. I would be pushing for Tim Farron to lead the party now and the Cleggs, Alexanders, Cables and Hughes of the world need to fall on their swords to be honest.

The Greens 8.1% was ,like the tories, pretty much what we would expect I think. The Greens would normally get my vote in European elections but I went with the SNP. Not that I don’t like the Green message for Europe I decided to vote tactically this time to send a message of hope for September. Not really much to say at the end of the day.

UKip First things first I am not surprised they got their first seat in Scotland or 10.4% of the vote. I have argued that they would get a foot in and while the Tories will have taken votes from the Liberals, UKip will have taken votes from the Tories. We have to also consider that no matter what we think Scotland has a fair amount of euro sceptics. We have also heard that UKip are a racist party, I don’t accept that at all. They have views that I don’t agree with but all parties have racists in them but that doesn’t make them racist parties. UKip just have a far larger share of nutters I guess than most parties but are they any less disgusting than the Brit nats of Scottish Labour, not in my book. A good night for UKip overall.

Summing Up The vote for UKip and the collapse in many ways of the votes for the mainstream parties across the whole of the UK is not just a protest vote, there will be some of that in there, but their rise is more down to the fact that the so-called main political parties have failed. People are getting sick of the lies, of the over sanitized message, of the political drones who become MPs, of Westminster politics pandering to the banks and the wealthy etc. I believe that people are getting sick of Government for the few by the few against the many. It is a wake up call for us here in Scotland because it looks like in next years General Election the Tories will either win outright or will form another coalition with the Liberals and maybe UKip if they win some seats, although that is very difficult in first past the post for them.

UKip speak out to many people, they come across as a party of the people down south because of the language they use but they are as big business and elite as the Tories. They hide it better and they pray on people’s fears about levels of immigration, of people taking low paid jobs from people who won’t or can’t take low paid jobs. UKip for me are the Tory Party that many tories wish they could be, and that makes them dangerous, they will play on that and on little England syndrome which might just get them some seats and a balance of power, Scotland don’t say you haven’t been warned and don’t put your faith in Labour. You are about to see Labour shift even more to the right, it really is a nightmare waiting to happen in 2015.

So, if you are sitting on the fence as far as your vote goes in September my ill-informed message to you is that vote NO and get TORY. Labour will not win with the current leadership, people don’t like them and certainly don’t trust them. Their lead in the polls will narrow or be lost altogether. Even though we have the worst group of politicians we have ever had, we have a Tory Government attacking more than Thatcher ever did and Labour still won’t win next year, says it all. Wake up before it’s too late or you consign us all to what might become the biggest war between the have and have not’s this country has ever seen and rest assured Scotland will be the loser.

10 comments

Reblogged this on Whitefeatherclub and commented:
Well worth a read and I have to agree with the sentiment that UKIP are not racist. They do have some idiots but I consider them a repository for anger with the established party system. Westminster politics has failed the electorate. In Scotland there is also, I believe, a core belief that is concerned with immigration, together with dissatisfaction with the Byzantine workings of the EU. 10% support for UKIP is broadly what I would expect. I’m neither surprised nor that disappointed. What do you expect when people are just people. Hopefully it will focus a few minds among the thinking Unionists.

Europe needs to change, I would prefer an economic union to be honest but just because it’s become a self sustaining monster that costs a fortune. Keep human rights and economic co operation but that would be enough I guess.

Well much I agree with, noticed where the main votes forUkip came from and one was my neck of the woods, Fife also Edinburgh were quite virulent but then quite a big community of migrants there some less noticeable than others in that they look just like us but some do not think the same way but that does not mean that they will not vote YES.
We can thank the fourth estate for much of those votes, dear Auntie Unbaised and her kids known collectively as MSM. How they love to build people up, to let them go crashing down. Well Aunty that was fine with some stupid celebrity but you should not do it with a dodgy Political Party, we all know now what happened in Germany when they did that.

Apparently a lot of Labour voters went for a tactical UKip vote to keep the SNP out. While the height of stupidity I think it may well just back fire. The more I think about it the more I suspect that AS and the SNP/YES will be privately happy that UKip got a seat. The Unionists and Labour embracing them may well backfire badly pushing a lot of no’s into the YES camp. With UKip doing so well in England and looking like they might sneak a seat here and there next year will make people understand that the Conservatives are going to win in 2015 and again this helps YES so I really think this will actually come back to haunt the no side.

Actually I think that Ukip winning and the happiness that this has induced in some people who should really know better is counter intuitive, seems to be working in favour of Yes . Just said to my friend in Pennsylvania this morning that the Government propaganda unit was working well this morning, trouble is that too many scare stories tend to stop scaring you eventually, I think folk are becoming inured to it all. Just in case you haven’t heard Vote No Borders have had their Cinema Adverts pulled, trouble is so has everyone else.

I suggest the choice is Vote No and get Tory – or Tory/UKIP. The way the BBC has given them so much publicity sickens me. I see no difference between them and Fox News. It is all glitz, glitter, celebrity and personality with nothing at all about policies. As far as I am concerned they are “not fit for purpose” . As I see it they are not in compliance with the terms of the charter and the entire management, editing, interviewing and presenting staff should be fired.

Thanks for commenting and I totally agree. As I replied above I think UKIp getting a seat and Labour followers voting for them will back fire badly leading up to September as it now looks increasingly likely the Conservatives will win in 2015. Labour followers and the no side will regret the day UKip got a seat in Scotland.

Agreed on UKIP, they’re a bit swivel-eyed and slap dash with their policies but they’re not inherently racist per se (they are on the other hand quite openly homophobic which is as bad.)

I would have liked to have seen the Greens do well, politics is about counter balances as much as anything else and I always feel they’d be a useful counter – in that they seem to be more socialist in leaning – than any of the others.

Not that I’m a socialist you understand, but nor am I a massive libertarian or conservative either. Just somewhere in the middle between the SNP and the Greens.

If that makes any sense.

Labour continue to be a total disgrace, I’m not sure I could have a lower opinion of a political party.